Councilors said numerous meetings have been held where interested parties could comment on the proposed Polish historic district.

HOLYOKE -- A lawyer for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield said Thursday the City Council Ordinance Committee is treating the Diocese unfairly regarding a proposal for a Polish historic district here.

Councilors replied that the Diocese and others interested in the proposal have had numerous chances to comment and that the Diocese still can submit written testimony if the submission has new information.

The proposed Polish Heritage Historic District calls for designating as historic 21 residential and commercial properties on the southern side of Lyman Street, with the key being the inclusion of the closed Mater Dolorosa Church at Lyman and Maple streets.

The Diocese opposes inclusion of the church because its officials said parishioners here would be unable to afford the cost of maintaining the 114-year-old church up to historic requirements.

Diocese lawyer Stephen E. Spelman objected to the committee's prohibiting him from making a presentation Tuesday (Feb. 10) at City Hall.

Spelman said that during Tuesday's meeting he wanted to respond to: remarks made in the meeting by Historical Commission Chairwoman Olivia Mausel; a 130-page packet of information about the proposed district Mausel submitted to the committee; and comments about historic districts by Robert McCarroll of the Springfield Historical Commission, who addressed the committee at Mausel's request.

"Ms. Mausel and Mr. McCarroll essentially were allowed to give a two-hour, one-sided presentation to the committee. The committee then refused my request that I be allowed to give a similar type of presentation, which would express an alternative viewpoint," Spelman said.

"This refusal by the committee is particularly critical with respect to the supposed economic benefits that come with the creation of an historic district, as it was clear that many of the councilors had questions about the economic impact of historic districts," he said.

Spelman questioned how what Mausel presented could be considered anything other than advocacy, which he said should require the Ordinance Committee to hear another view.

"I don't see why Ms. Mausel gets to provide advocacy information but the Diocese does not," said Spelman, of the Springfield firm Egan, Flanagan and Cohen.

Committee Chairwoman Rebecca Lisi and Vice Chairman Gordon P. Alexander said Mausel was answering questions councilors have raised about the proposal at previous meetings, not making a presentation.

"This was not a public hearing, and the committee members mentioned at (Tuesday's) meeting that we have suspended our rules several times to hear comments and opinions on the matter," Lisi said.

"(Tuesday) Olivia helped provide technical answers to questions that committee members have asked at previous meetings. No 'presentation' was made," she said.

Also, said Alexander, "The Historical Commission is not an interested party but rather the organ of city government tasked with evaluating such issues and proposals."

"The Ordinance Committee declined to hear further presentations by interested parties either for or against. In spite of this, the Ordinance Committee invited Attorney Spelman to submit in written form any new information he wanted the Ordinance Committee to consider," Alexander said.

It would appear to be difficult to argue Mausel is a neutral party on this issue. She has supported establishment of the Polish historic district as its lead spokeswoman because she said marking such a culture signals the significance to the city in general of people who came before.

Mausel has said, for example: "The Polish Heritage Local Historic District is important because it represents the very industrial facet of Holyoke, that the immigrants, the Polish immigrants settled in a particular part of town, and they worked, went to school, went to church, worked in the mills, came home, went to the Kosciuszko Club."

The packet of information Mausel presented to and discussed with councilors included:

--a map of the proposed district;

--a letter from Fairfield Avenue resident Susan Woods about the positive aspects of the city having desigated that street a historic area.

--a letter supporting the proposal from Preservation Massachusetts President James W. Igoe.

--studies about economic benefits of historic districts in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Iowa, Kentucky, Philadelphia, Cleveland and other places by the state of Massachusetts and by the private firm PlaceEconomics of Washington, D.C., a real estate and economic development consulting firm.

Spelman said he would submit studies that show inclusion of properties in historic districts produce negative effects that include reduced property values.

--details about the historical significance of the properties that would be included in the proposed district here,.

--a two-page letter supporting the proposed district from 11-year-old Katie Fydenkevez.

Spelman questioned how a letter that appeared to be from an 11-year-old girl on the topic can be considered anything other than advocacy.

--A Sept. 16, 2013 letter to Mausel from Christopher C. Skelly, director of local government programs with the Massachusetts Historical Commission, encouraging the city to establish the Polish historic district.

--copies of state laws governing how cities and towns establish and deal with historic districts.

--A Jan. 12 opinion from Assistant City Solicitor Kara Cunha to Lisi stating that the City Council could vote to amend the proposed ordinance to remove a property from the proposed historic district. The proposed ordinance also could include a procedure to let an owner of property within the district appeal to a third party designated by the regional planning agency, the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, with the understanding the third party's decision would be binding, Cunha said.

--A Feb. 8, 2014 letter from Neal B. Mitchell Jr. of the engineering firm Neal Mitchell Associates of Northbridge to City Council President Kevin A. Jourdain about the stability of the Mater Dolorosa Church steeple and the controversy surrounding that part of the proposed historic district.

--A copy, unsigned, of a two-page affidavit dated June 2012 from Paul Healy, former Holyoke building inspector, stating he never received a copy of an engineering report about the Mater Dolorosa Church steeple. "I do not know why untruthful statements are being made on these issues," the affidavit states.

The Diocese cited instability of the steeple, and a declining total of parishioners, as the reasons for closing Mater Dolorosa Church in 2011.

But there have been dueling engineering assessments of the steeple. Engineering Design Associates Inc. of West Springfield said in a May 2, 2011 report done for the Diocese concluded, "It is only a matter of time before there is either a partial or compete failure of the wood framed steeple structure."

That was disputed by Mitchell's firm, which did a report for free for Friends of Mater Dolorosa. Because of the steeple's "tension cage" structure of timber, bricks and steel rods, Mitchell said in a July 25, 2011 report, "There is no way that this tower will ever fail with this structural combination."

--A Jan. 9 letter addressed "Dear City Councilor" from the Rev. Albert Scherer, pastor of Our Lady of the Cross Parish at 23 Sycamore St. The letter is about how inclusion of Mater Dolorosa Church in a historic district would impose a financial burden and leave the parish unable to sell the church.

Upon closing Mater Dolorosa Church in 2011, the Diocese merged the former Mater Dolorosa Church with the former Holy Cross Church to form Our Lady of the Cross (OLOC) parish.

While the Diocese owns Mater Dolorosa Church, maintenance costs fall to the local parish, Diocese and parish officials have said.

--A Jan. 5 letter from Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski, leader of the Diocese, to Victor Anop of Chicopee, of the Friends of Mater Dolorosa Church, a vocal proponent of the historic district plan and frequent critic of the Diocese. Rozanski tells Anop in the letter he has refused Anop's request to inspect Mater Dolorosa Church.

--An April 3 letter to the City Council urging a no vote on the proposed historic district signed by the Rev. Robert A. Gentile, pastor of Blessed Sacrament Parish, the Rev. William H. Lunney, pastor of St. Jerome Parish, the Rev. Sean O'Mannion, pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish and Immaculate Conception Parish and Scherer.

--A Dec. 19, 2013 memo from Monsignor John J. Bonzagni, director of pastoral planning and chairman of the Diocese's real estate advisory board, to Mayor Alex B. Morse, Jourdain and Mausel asking that church properties be removed from the proposed historic district.

During Tuesday's meeting, Ward 5 Councilor Linda L. Vacon said it was unfortunate that the proposal for the Polish historic district has become "a terribly divisive, controversial matter."

Spelman said it was true that councilors have received phone calls from parishioners concerned about the Polish historic district proposal.

"Some councilors appear to be upset that democracy is breaking out," Spelman said.

The Ordinance Committee will do a final review of the Polish historic district proposal Feb. 24, councilors said.

The committee then plans to vote a recommendation on the proposal to the full City Council.

That means the City Council could vote in March whether to approve or reject the proposal that has drawn hundreds of supporters and foes to municipal meetings and sparked nasty verbal exchanges.

The ordinance would designate as historic an area supporters said represents a place of significance as people from Poland came here to work in the mills between the 1890's and the outbreak of World War I in 1914.

Morse has said he supports establishment of the Polish historic district.

Few sentient beings truly thrive in extreme cold - and your smart phone is no exception.

Brutal cold conditions fit for neither man nor beast are on tap for much of the weekend.

The National Weather Service, in addition to a forecast calling for more snow, is predicting bitter cold temperatures and vicious windchills. By now everyone in New England knows the drill: Wear layers, limit outdoor time for children and pets, and watch for signs of frostbite.

Sound advice, all of it.

But on to what's really important: What's going on with my smart phone battery?

Few sentient beings, outside of polar bears and penguins, truly love and thrive in the cold, and your smart phone is no exception. Cold temperatures in particular are notorious for causing phone batteries to experience significant shrinkage.

Twice this week with temperatures in the 20s, my phone was dead in 30 to 40 minutes of ordinary use. And this was after venturing outside with a battery at close to 100 percent.

According to Apple, iPhones are not designed to work in temperatures of less than 32 degrees. In other words, they are not ideal for functioning outside on a typical New England day from December through February.

Other phones are not much better.

A study of different phones by PCWorld showed an iPhone 4S and the Nokia N9 each began malfunctioning when the temperature hit 23 degrees Farenheit. By 5 degrees -- the temperature in downtown Springfield Friday afternoon -- most brands of cell phones would simply stop working.
"In our tests, the majority of smartphones couldn't handle temperatures ranging from 5 degrees down to -4 degrees. Even if the phones managed to stay powered up, most died when put to actual use."

A test Friday in the parking lot of The Republican (temperature 14 degrees) shows one cell phone, left powered on but not being used for anything, had its battery go from 79 percent to 62 percent in about 30 minutes.

Another phone being used to record the status of the first saw its battery go from 98 percent to 72 percent in the same period.

The experiment would have continued to its logical conclusion but ...14 degrees.

Any device powered by battery is affected by extreme cold. Cold weather drains battery life. That's why you car will sometimes not turn over on a bitter cold February morning.

If your car won't start, you at least can call AAA. But who are you going to call if your phone is dead? Trick question.

It's best not to get to that point.

And the best way to avoid a dead phone is to keep these tips in mind:

• Use your body heat. As far as your phone is concerned, you are a 98.6 degree hot water bottle. Keep your phone as close to your body as you can, such as in a pants or shirt pocket. Leaving it in a coat pocket, a purse or even in your car may cause it to shut down.
• When outside, use it sparingly. Limit your app usage. Shut down everything that is not essential. Give a thought to whether the world truly needs you to tweet every 15 seconds about how bloody cold it is.
• If you have to be outside and you have to use your phone, give a thought to carrying an external phone battery.

The other day, I was using my phone to tweet information and photos from the scene of a water-main break in downtown Springfield. Inside of 30 minutes, my phone was almost dead. A career in newspapering has taught me to be ready for anything, and after a moment or two of cursing at my phone, I was up and running again thanks to the external battery I always carry in my bag.

Fully charged, they extend your phone life by up to 8 hours in optimum conditions, and probably a little less than that in extreme cold. But it may just be what you need until you and your phone can both go somewhere to recharge.

If your phone does conk out because of the cold, some experts recommend allowing it to warm up trying to start it again. Jeremy Kwaterski, CEO of CPR Cell Phone Repair told CNN recently

"In the event that your phone does shut down, do not restart it until you're inside and give time for your phone to warm up. Restarting your phone immediately could actually cause more harm to your phone and actually shorten your battery life."

AT&T also recommends that if your phone is exposed to the cold for a long period of time you should turn it off until it has a chance to warm up. This prevents condensation from forming on the inside screen.

Interns must be available to work starting on June 1. Applications will be accepted until Feb. 21, 2015, and candidates will be notified of acceptance by March 13. Applicants must supply a resume, references and up to three work or writing samples.

SPRINGFIELD – MassLive will again offer paid internships this summer in its editorial and sales and marketing departments.

As part of a national internship program organized by MassLive’s national affiliate, Advance Local, interns will be immersed in the Springfield-based organization for eight weeks and then come together for a national summit in the New York City area with fellow interns from across the country.

The editorial intern will be part of MassLive's growing digital content team and will work out of our 1350 Main Street office. The internship will be a hands-on digital reporting and producing position. Candidates will be expected to write news stories, take photos and videos, and interact with readers on social media. The ideal candidate must have exceptional writing skills and familiarity with digital publishing tools.

The sales and marketing intern will work alongside the digital sales and marketing team to develop multi-platform advertising solutions for local and regional advertisers. Students should be goal-oriented, self-motivated and have strong problem-solving skills.

The program is open to current, full-time undergraduate or graduate students pursuing a degree in Journalism, Business, Communications, or related fields.

The Summer 2015 Internship Program is a paid national talent development program designed to be a springboard for individuals with a demonstrated interest in journalism, marketing or sales. Interns will work with local teams at an Advance Local affiliate in Alabama, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey, Central New York, Ohio, Oregon or Pennsylvania.

Interns must be available to work starting on June 1. Applications will be accepted until Feb. 21, 2015, and candidates will be notified of acceptance by March 13. Applicants must supply a resume, references and up to three work or writing samples.

###

Media Contact: Ed Kubosiak Jr., Editor-in-Chief, MassLive. Contact via email at ed.kubosiak@masslive.com.

Chelsei Smith, 22, was arraigned in Westfield District Court Friday on two counts of assault and battery and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, documents said.

WESTFIELD -- A Westfield woman has been accused of attacking two people at Powdermill Village Apartments after allegedly taking hallucinogenic drugs and before rolling around in the snow while naked, according to court documents.

Chelsei Smith, 22, was arraigned in Westfield District Court Friday on two counts of assault and battery and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, documents said.

On Feb. 4 at about 10:30 p.m., Westfield police responded to the apartment complex on Union Street after receiving reports that a nude woman had violently attacked two people, police reports said.

Upon arrival, officers saw the suspect, later identified as Smith, completely naked and lying in the snow, reports said. It was 26 degrees outside at the time of the call, police noted, with at least 12 to 15 inches of snow on the ground.

Smith showed the classic signs of a person who had taken LSD, police said, including violent behavior, body numbness, slurred speech, blank staring, hallucinations and inability to follow simple directions.

Prior to police arrival, witnesses said Smith attacked a 47-year-old woman walking her dog in the neighborhood. She allegedly knocked down the victim and proceeded to punch her several times, and then got on top of her and began slamming her head on a wooden deck, police reports said.

Smith then allegedly attacked another person who tried to help the woman. Police observed that the second victim's shirt was ripped and that he had small lacerations on his neck due to the altercation.

It took five officers to control Smith, reports said.

Smith was taken by ambulance to the hospital to receive treatment for a drug overdose.

The credit cards will be accepted at Costco through March of 2016.

Warehouse retailer Costco and credit card company American Express are ending their exclusive credit card relationship in March 2016, both companies announced this week.

American Express announced that the deal will end March 31, 2016. Costco executives have said they are seeking out relationships with other credit card companies.

American Express had been the only credit card Costco accepted.

In a news release, Kenneth I. Chenault, chairman and chief executive officer of American Express, wrote:

"We are proud of the value created over many years for Costco, for our Card Members and for our shareholders Taking a very disciplined approach, we began discussions on a possible renewal with Costco well in advance of the contract expiration. However, we were unable to reach terms that would have made economic sense for our Company and shareholders. Instead, we will focus on opportunities in other parts of our business where we see significant potential for growth and attractive returns over the moderate to long term."

Costco has 671 warehouse locations, including ones in West Springfield and Enfield, Connecticut, and total annual revenue of $112.6 billion. Headquarters are in Washington state. Costco stock was at $147.10, down 66 cents on the day on Friday. American Express ended Friday at $78.08, down $2.40.

The crash happened shortly before 3 p.m. Friday on Route 10 near the Easthampton line.

NORTHAMPTON — A Route 10 rollover crash shortly before 3 p.m. Friday sent one person to a local hospital with unknown injuries, according to authorities.

Northampton Police Officer Justin Hooten, reached at about 4:30 p.m., said officers had just returned from the scene and Route 10 (known as Easthamtpon Road along that stretch of roadway) was open to traffic again.

Hooten didn't have any additional information about the crash, which occurred near the Easthampton town line. An update on the victim's condition was unavailable.

The crash was reported at 2:53 p.m., Fireground360 tweeted.

Outgoing MBTA General Manager Beverly Scott has been on a hiring and spending spree at the cash-strapped agency over the past year, adding more than 200 new employees to the payroll and nearly doubling the roster of staffers who score six-figure salaries, a Boston Herald review found.

A digest of news stories from around New England.

Leicester firefighter, charged with indecent assault of minor, cited for distributing obscene photos [Telegram & Gazette]

Marcus Giotto 

The crash happened shortly before 5:30 p.m. Friday on East Columbus Avenue near Clinton Street, an area straddling the Metro Center and Memorial Square neighborhoods that's beneath a network of elevated highway ramps leading from I-91 to Route 20 and Interstate 291.

SPRINGFIELD — A car crashed into a highway support column below an elevated section of Interstate 91 late Friday afternoon.

The crash happened shortly before 5:30 p.m. on East Columbus Avenue near Clinton Street, an area straddling the Metro Center and Memorial Square neighborhoods that's below a network of elevated highway ramps leading from I-91 to Route 20 and Interstate 291.

Police and an American Medical Response ambulance were on scene, though it wasn't immediately clear how many vehicles were involved in the crash. The car that hit the concrete support column was a white, four-door sedan, which appeared to have sustained significant front-end damage.

Additional information wasn't immediately available.

The settlement extends a rough six-month stretch for the city in terms of court settlements and jury awards.

SPRINGFIELD - The city has reached a settlement with Michael Ververis, a FedEx driver from Connecticut who sued police after he said he was beaten and choked during an unjustified arrest in 2011.

The settlement, the terms of which have not been released, comes a week before the case was set for trial in U.S. District Court and at the urging of Judge Michael A. Ponsor.

Lawyers for the plaintiff, city and four police officers named in the lawsuit gathered at federal court on Thursday for a final pretrial conference to discuss brass tacks issues such as scheduling and jury selection. The trial was set to begin Feb. 23.

However, Ponsor asked why settlement talks had fallen apart between the parties and called the attorney into his chambers for several hours. A settlement notice was filed in the case late Friday.

David P. Hoose, a lawyer for Ververis, 26, declined comment. Lawyers for the city could not immediately be reached.

Ververis alleges in a complaint filed last year that police targeted him as he was driving away from the city's entertainment district on Jan. 9, 2011. He argued police struck his car with a flashlight as he was traveling out with two friends. When he demanded a badge number, they dragged him out of the car, choking and beating him in front of a crowd of bystanders, the complaint states.

Police countered that Ververis had been disorderly, resisted arrest and grabbed for an officer's gun during the confrontation just after 2 a.m. In their report, however, they failed to document that they grabbed a bystander's cell phone after spotting her apparently taking video of Ververis' arrest.

The phone was returned to the woman almost three months later, but the video wasn't there, according to court records and separate proceedings related to the incident.

Ververis was ultimately acquitted of resisting arrest and assault and battery on a police officer after a trial in Springfield District Court in 2013.

The settlement caps a rough six-month stretch for the city in terms of court settlements and jury awards. In October, a Hampden County Superior Court jury awarded bar owner Will Quarterman $350,000 after finding the city License Commission and former Mayor Charles V. Ryan retaliated against him over a liquor license eight years earlier. That award jumped to $675,000 with annual interest.

In September, a jury in U.S. District Court awarded the mother of Delano Walker Jr. $1.3 million. The panel found Police Officer Sean Sullivan violated the 15-year-old's civil rights by using excessive force during a stop, forcing him into traffic on Columbus Avenue where he was struck and killed by a car.

The city negotiated with plaintiff's lawyers, Hoose and Luke Ryan, to reduce the award to $1 million and pay it almost immediately.

The cancelation of Sunday service on the MBTA exposed possible miscommunication at some of the higher levels of state government on Friday.

BOSTON --The MBTA announced on Friday that they will not operate any services on Sunday in anticipation of the blizzard-like conditions from Winter Storm Neptune and canceled Saturday night's late night service.

MBTA officials said in a release that they needed to shutdown the service in order to clear the equipment, including rails and switches, of ice and snow.

A decision as to whether or not the system will operate on Monday will be made Sunday evening when Neptune is forecasted to be out to sea.

"The MBTA is taking this action to ensure the safety of our customers and employees, which is our top priority. The projected heavy snow and high winds will significantly inhibit the MBTA's ability to deliver safe and reliable service. Trees and power lines could come down, and visibility will be hampered. Additionally, the MBTA is concerned that a train could break down between stations, resulting in a track right-of-way evacuation that would put customers, employees and emergency responders at risk," said the MBTA in a statement.

The suspension of late night MBTA service on Saturday will allow the MBTA commence maintenance and snow removal operations before 3:30 a.m. when late night service normally ends.

The announcement comes at the conclusion of a confusing day where high level state officials appeared to not all be on the same page.

At a brief press availability at 3:50 p.m. after a MassDOT board of directors meeting Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack said that Gov. Charlie Baker would have something to say on the MBTA's weekend schedule at a 4:15 p.m. press conference.

"I think he'll have some information about that when he does his press avail," said Pollack.

Baker's press avail took place approximately 15 minutes after Pollack's brief chat with the press ended.

At Baker's press conference in Room 157 he said that a decision to suspend MBTA service would likely be made on Saturday.

"I think they'll make decision tomorrow morning on what their plans are with respect to Sunday," said Baker.

Baker's press conference concluded at approximately 4:40 p.m.

At 5:21 p.m. on Friday an email from MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo hit the inboxes of Boston reporters announcing the suspension of Sunday service.

Unlike commonwealth charter schools – where students are selected through a lottery &#8211 UP Academy will work with students in an existing city middle school, which is expected to be identified by November, 2015.

SPRINGFIELD — State education chief Mitchell Chester on Friday said he will recommend approval of two new charter schools – one for the proposed UP Academy Charter School of Springfield and another for a school in Salem.

Mitchell D. Chester 

The board of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education is expected to vote on Feb. 24 on the commissioner's recommendations to approve Boston-based UP Education Network's proposal for an 800-student middle school in Springfield and a second charter for Bentley Academy Charter School, a 300-student K-5 school in

In the meantime, UP Academy has already been laying the groundwork with the Springfield School Department to open a district-run charter school in one of the city's underperforming middle schools beginning in the 2016 school year Springfield.

UP Academy will work with students in an existing city middle school, which is expected to be identified by November, 2015.

The so-called "restart strategy – closing an underperforming district school and opening it as a Horace Mann Charter School – is consistent with Springfield's "relentless and innovative efforts to raise student achievement in its lowest-performing schools, UP said in its proposal.

The Springfield school district, like other high-poverty Gateway cities, has been under the gun to come up with plans to lift its struggling middle schools out of Level 4 and potential state takeover.

Chester's thumbs-up to the UP Academy proposal comes just days after the board of the new Springfield Empowerment Zone Partnership held its first meeting to lay out a strategy to save the city's eight failing middle schools by banding them together under the zone's umbrella. The zone would go into effect for the 2015 school year.

During its meeting on Monday at Chestnut Middle School, the board adopted a plan that would bring in new leadership teams at the John F. Kennedy Middle School and the Van Sickle Middle School. In addition, the proposal also calls for splitting Van Sickle into two smaller middle schools in the same facility.

The other six Level 4 schools in the zone – M. Marcus Kiley, John J. Duggan, Forest Park, Chestnut Accelerated Middle School North, Chestnut Accelerated Middle School South and Chestnut Accelerated Middle School Talented and Gifted – will keep current principals and staff in place as the school leadership teams adopt turnaround strategies including increased school-automomy, expanded teaching time and intensive teacher-training and vacation-school tutoring academies.

Previously, Superintendent of Schools Daniel Warwick said the Empowerment Zone and UP Academy could both work to improve the city's middle schools.

UP received approval of it charter application to the state from the Springfield School Committee last year. The Boston-based UP Educational Network, which was invited by the state to apply for the charter, received approval of its application from the Springfield School Committee last fall.

In recommending the new charters, Chester said he was pleased to see school committees take advantage of the opportunity to incorporate charter schools into their districts.

"These two proposals underwent a rigorous review, and I believe they would be strong options for students in Salem and Springfield," he said

As part of the 2014-15 charter school application cycle, the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education received seven prospectuses from groups seeking to receive approval to open new charter schools.

Chester invited the founders of four of those groups to submit final applications. He said operators of the Springfield and Salem charters demonstrated their ability to found and operate a high-quality charter school, and both have plans for collaboration with their partner public school district.

The other finalists -8211 the Academy for the Whole Child Charter School, which would have served the Fitchburg area, and the New Heights Charter School of Brockton – did not get favorable recommendations.

The founders of those groups will receive feedback from the Department on their applications and are invited to consult with the Department regarding participation in future application cycles.

Springfield currently has five charter schools - Baystate Academy Charter Public School, Martin Luther King Jr. Charter School of Excellence, Sabis International Charter and Veritas Preparatory Charter School and Phoenix Charter Academy . Another one, Springfield Preparatory Charter School, plans to open in 2015.

There are two types of charter schools in Massachusetts: Commonwealth and Horace Mann charters.

The difference between the two types of charter schools:

A heat loss monitoring system was installed in the shed where the monkeys are kept on Friday.

A report showing faster-than-forecast growth in Europe at the end of last year also boosted investor sentiment.

By STEVE ROTHWELL

NEW YORK -- A slight gain was enough to push the stock market to a record high Friday.

Stocks climbed as a rebound in oil prices pushed energy stocks higher. A report showing faster-than-forecast growth in Europe at the end of last year also boosted investor sentiment.

Investors were also picking over the latest earnings news. CBS gained after strong advertising revenue boosted its earnings. V.F. Corporation, a clothing company whose brands include Vans, Wrangler and Timberland, jumped after giving an upbeat outlook for the year.

Stocks have surged in February, rebounding from a January slump, as recovering oil prices have boosted energy stocks. Growing corporate earnings and the announcement of more stimulus from the European Central Bank to boost growth in the region have also helped turn around investor sentiment this month.

"Stability seems to be coming back," said JJ Kinahan, chief strategist at TD Ameritrade. "Overall, I think the market is going to go higher ... but it may be a case of two steps forward, one step back."

The Standard & Poor's 500 rose 8.51 points, or 0.4 percent, to 2,096.99. That surpassed the previous record close of 2,090.57 set Dec. 29.

The Dow Jones industrial average climbed 46.97 points, or 0.3 percent, to 18,019.35. The index is still 35 points short of its all-time high. The Nasdaq composite gained 36.22 points, or 0.8 percent, to 4,893.84.

About three-quarters of the companies in the S&P 500 index have now reported results for the fourth quarter, and earnings for the period are projected to rise by 7.5 percent. While that is a decline from growth of 10.4 percent in the previous quarter, it's better than analysts were expecting at the start of December.

On Friday, V.F. Corporation was one of the biggest gainers in the S&P 500. The company's stock rose $4.26, or 6 percent, to $75.26 after it said that it was expecting "meaningful growth" in all of its markets worldwide. That's despite challenges it faces from a strengthening dollar.

CBS was another winner on Friday.

The media company gained $2.06, or 3.6 percent, to $59.83 after it reported earnings late Thursday that were slightly better than Wall Street analysts had been expecting. The company got a boost from higher advertising revenues, led by the broadcast of "Thursday Night Football" and political ad revenues associated with the midterm elections.

This month's sharp gains are making some analysts cautious on stocks.

The price-earnings ratio for next year's earnings for S&P 500 companies is at 17.1, the highest level in more than a decade. The measure is a gauge of how much investors are willing to pay for a company's earnings.

"Watch those valuation levels very carefully," said James Liu, Global Market Strategist for J.P. Morgan Asset Management.

Rather than tracking the broader market investors should focus on certain sectors, Liu says. At the moment he favors so-called consumer discretionary stocks, which should benefit as hiring picks and consumers get more money in their pockets from lower gas prices.

ConAgra was one of the biggest losers in the S&P 500 on Friday.

The food company, whose brands include Swiss Miss hot chocolate mix and Slim Jim beef jerky, dropped $1.59, or 4.4 percent, to $34.83 after cutting its earnings outlook for the year late Thursday. ConAgra blamed the impact of a stronger dollar and intense competition for its Private Brands unit.

While energy stocks have been rebounding this year, one of last year's biggest gainers is this year's biggest decliner.

Utilities surged 25 percent last year as investor pushed up the price of the dividend-rich stocks as bond yields fell. Now, as bond yields are showing signs of rising from their lows, investors are dumping the stocks. The sector is down 7 percent this month.

Stocks in the U.S. again got a lift from developments in Europe.

Data out Friday showed the eurozone economy picked up speed in the fourth quarter thanks to better growth in Germany and Spain. The currency union's economy grew 0.3 percent in the October-December period compared with the previous quarter, more than expected, thanks also to lower oil prices and a weaker euro. The growth rate, while encouraging, is still only about half that of the U.S.

Greece and its creditors in the 19-country eurozone took visible, if modest, steps to bridge their differences over Athens' demands to lighten the load of its financial bailout. Investors are hopeful that a deal will be reached to avoid Greece's exit from the euro.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude rose $1.57 to $52.78 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude climbed $2.24 to $61.52 a barrel in London.

In U.S. government bond trading, prices fell slightly. The yield on the 10-year benchmark government note edged up to 2.04 percent from 1.99 percent on Tuesday.

The dollar was little changed against the Japanese yen and the euro. The dollar traded at 118.75 yen, down from 118.85 yen the previous day. The euro was flat at $1.1406.

In metals trading, precious and industrial metals futures closed higher. Gold rose $6.40 to $1,227.10 an ounce, silver jumped 50 cents to $17.29 an ounce and copper edged up less than a penny to $2.61 a pound.

In other energy futures trading on the NYMEX:

1. Wholesale gasoline rose 3 cents to close at $1.626 a gallon.
2. Heating oil rose 5.7 cents to close at $1.971 a gallon.
3. Natural gas rose 9.1 cents to close at $2.804 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Denise Lynette Hart, 25, was last seen on the night of Jan. 25 leaving a friend's house in Sudbury, Vermont, in a borrowed car that was found burned in a fire during the early morning hours of Jan. 26, according to Vermont State Police.

Denise Hart, 25, of Hartford, Conn., was last seen leaving a Sudbury, Vt., address on the night of Jan. 25. Police found the vehicle she left in burning near a covered bridge in Cornwall, Vt., early on the morning of Jan. 26. (VERMONT STATE POLICE) 

Hart was last seen on the night of Jan. 25 leaving a friend's house in Sudbury in a silver car that she borrowed from an acquaintance, police said.

The 2001 Pontiac Grand AM was found early on the morning of Jan. 26 at the Cornwall Covered Bridge fishing access area in Cornwall, Vermont, where the car apparently had been set on fire, police said.

Vermont State Police troopers and members of the Cornwall Fire Department responded to the fire scene on Swamp Road, but Hart was nowhere to be found.

State police detectives have conducted numerous interviews with people who may have had contact with Hart in the weeks and months leading up to her disappearance, and an extensive search was conducted at a Sudbury property on Feb. 11. Authorities did not indicate what, if anything, they learned from that multi-agency search of the property in rural Rutland County.

"Based on the investigation to this point, there is a strong indication of foul play," police said, adding that detectives continue to follow up on leads.

Vermont State Police officials are asking anyone with knowledge of Hart's whereabouts to call 802-773-9101. Authorities said they would specifically like to hear from people who were traveling in the Swamp Road area of Cornwall on Jan. 26, between midnight and 2 a.m.

The 5-foot-1 Hart is black, weighs about 115 pounds, and also goes by the names "Tiffany," "Chookie" or "Choocky." In addition to the Hartford area, she has Vermont ties in Rutland and Addison counties, police said.

The storm could dump more than a foot of snow on Boston and coastal sections of the Bay State, which are already up to their ears in snow.

SPRINGFIELD — Could somebody cry uncle already? Sheesh.

Bitterly cold weather will put Massachusetts in a deep freeze from Friday night through Tuesday morning, with another round of snow – try, blizzard conditions for coastal sections of the state – expected by Saturday afternoon and ending some time Sunday morning, according to the latest forecast for weather-weary Bay Staters.

And because this is the digital age, this storm, of course, has a Twitter hashtag – #WinterStormNeptune. Yes, Winter Storm Neptune is expected to pummel New England's eastern and southeastern coasts, which, for Massachusetts, means that greater Boston, the North Shore, the South Shore, the Cape and islands, and the South Coast are once again squarely in the crosshairs.

Framingham-based MEMA says blizzard conditions could pack northerly winds of 35-45 mph, with gusts of more than 50 mph in parts of the Cape and islands.

The net effect of the storm: possible power outages, blowing and drifting snow, poor road conditions, beach erosion, and minor to moderate coastal flooding. But the biggest problem for Boston is the potential for another 10-18 inches of snow, on top of the snow mountains that already dominate the cityscape.

Western Massachusetts accumulations are expected to range from 4-10 inches, depending on where you live. The areas of this region closest to the Worcester County border stand the greatest chance of getting more snow.

Estimated snow totals for Worcester and the rest of Central Massachusetts range from 10-14 inches.

Nick Morganelli, meteorologist for CBS 3 Springfield, media partner of MassLive / The Republican, says light snow will begin falling by midday Saturday, when high temperatures will reach the lower 20s. But that's about as warm as it'll get all weekend, he said.

Subzero wind chill temperatures return for Sunday, with wind gusts of up to 40 mph, blowing snow, and about 5 fresh inches of snow for greater Springfield, according to Morganelli. Monday is expected to be sunny but extremely cold.

Meanwhile, greater Boston and the rest of Eastern Massachusetts and Rhode Island will likely be digging out again from a potential foot of snow. "This would likely bring Boston into the top 3 for snowiest winters on record," Morganelli said.

The National Weather Service has issued a Blizzard Watch for all of Barnstable, Nantucket and Suffolk counties, and for eastern portions of Essex, Norfolk and Plymouth counties. The watch is in effect from 7 p.m. Saturday to 7 p.m. Sunday.

All suspects written about in this post are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

A Massachusetts State Police trooper stops a motorist in Western Massachusetts in this file photo from The Republican.THE REPUBLICAN / FILE PHOTO 

SPRINGFIELD — Welcome to Car Wars, Springfield Edition, a brief roundup of recent alleged vehicle violations in the City of Homes. All suspects are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

First up: The winner of the "He Didn't Even Try" category is 46-year-old Tony Sanchez, a resident of Hall Street in the city's Forest Park neighborhood.

Sanchez is accused of driving a vehicle he allegedly had no legal right to drive, based on Springfield police records. He was taken into custody Wednesday on Federal Street after being charged with driving with a suspended / revoked license, for starters. But the charges soon began piling up.

Not only was Sanchez not supposed to be driving, but police say he was driving an uninsured vehicle. And not only was the vehicle uninsured, but police say it also was unregistered. And not only was it unregistered, but police say it also had no inspection sticker.

In addition to having an arrest warrant and picking up a violation for allegedly concealing the license plates, police say Sanchez also was in possession of an open container of alcohol.

Next up: The "Driving a Stolen Car Without a License" award goes to 40-year-old Zulema Antongiorgi, a resident of Sachem Street in the Forest Park neighborhood.

Antongiorgi was charged with unlicensed operation and receiving a stolen vehicle following a traffic stop Wednesday on Maple Street, according to Springfield police records.

The good news for the Springfield woman: In order to be convicted of receiving a stolen vehicle, the government must prove, beyond a reasonable doubt, that she knew the property was stolen when she received it.

"This element is often difficult to prove because the charge of receiving stolen property is often brought against someone who is merely the last link in a chain between the original owner, the thief, and the point at which the police recovered the property," Boston defense lawyer Edward R. Molari says on his website.

And, finally: The "Speeding With a Suspended License" honor goes to 27-year-old Fred R. Pearson Jr., a resident of West Main Street in Chicopee.

Springfield police charged Pearson with speeding and driving with a suspended / revoked license following a Thursday traffic stop on State Street in Mason Square.

The good news for Pearson: There are ways for people to qualify for a Massachusetts hardship license if their driver's license has been revoked or suspended, according to attorneys at Altman & Altman, a Boston-area law firm.

The bad news for the Chicopee man: Information about a revoked or suspended license is included in the National Driver Register database, which is accessible to law enforcement officials in all fifty states.

In response to questioning, Lacrosse repeatedly denied walking to Mauke's home on Wednesday, but acknowledged throwing snowballs at her window several days earlier in the middle of the night.

SPRINGFIELD — Three hours after being rebuffed by his ex-girlfriend on Facebook, a man police identified as Nickolas Lacrosse was seen walking up her driveway on surveillance video, court records show.

It was Wednesday morning and Kathryn Mauke, 17, a high school senior, was home sick from school. The video shows Lacrosse, 20, of Springfield, arriving at her 136 Prentice St. home after 11 a.m. and leaving 30 minutes later, the documents state.

At 3 p.m., Mauke's older sister came home and found her on the kitchen floor, bleeding from stab wounds to her chest and neck. Police and paramedics tried to administer first aid, but she had no vital signs, records show.

"It was determined that that victim had died of her injuries," Lt. Thomas Kennedy wrote in a crime scene report.

Lacrosse was arrested late Wednesday and pleaded not guilty on Thursday to a first degree murder charge in Springfield District Court.

By agreement of defense and prosecution lawyers, he was ordered held without right to bail at the Hampden County House of Correction.

No details of the crime were provided during the arraignment, and Springfield police have only said Lacrosse was identified as a suspect based on interviews with the victim's family and others.

But records filed in Springfield District Court show police also collected evidence from a video surveillance camera at the home of Mauke's next door neighbor and at Keystone Commons apartments in Ludlow, where Lacrosse was a maintenance worker.

After reviewing the neighbor's video, police determined the suspect arrived at his ex-girlfriend's home at 11:16 a.m. and left at about 11:46 a.m., according one of several police statements in the court file.

In the video, Lacrosse, wearing dark pants, a dark sweatshirt with a distinctive design and a full beard, is seen walking from the home "at a hurried pace," the report states.

By 6 p.m., police were at Lacrosse's home on Observer Street, questioning him about his activities earlier in the day and his relationship with the victim.

By his own account, Lacrosse showed up for work at Keystone Commons Wednesday morning, and got into a Facebook exchange with his ex-girlfriend between 7:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., records show.

He and Mauke had been friends for several years and dated from September to December, Lacrosse told police. Lately, she had stopped answering his phone calls and text messages, he said.

"During the course of the (Facebook) conversation, Kathryn had told him that their relationship was over and that she was seeing someone else and that she was happy," the report stated.

Too upset to work, Lacrosse said he got a ride home from a friend between 10:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. In response to questioning, he repeatedly denied walking to Mauke's home on Wednesday, but acknowledged throwing snowballs at her window several days earlier in the middle of the night.

During the interview, police also questioned Lacrosse about his beard, which had disappeared by 5 p.m.

At first, Lacrosse said he shaved it on New Year's Day, but later acknowledged removing it a few hours earlier, explaining it "had begun itching him," the report said.

"This was an obvious attempt to change his appearance after this crime was committed," Kennedy wrote in a report establishing probable cause to arrest Lacrosse.

Surveillance video from Keystone Commons showed Lacrosse reported to work Wednesday morning with a beard and wearing the same dark sweatshirt with the distinctive design that later appeared on video outside Mauke's home, police said.

Police also interviewed several of Lacrosse's friends and co-workers, including a man described as the suspect's best friend for 12 years.

After viewing the videos, the friend became upset, records show. "It was him," the friend is quoted as saying.

Several other people who knew Lacrosse also identified him as the figure walking outside Mauke's home on Wednesday morning.

Mauke's mother, however, said she could not make a positive identification and Maria Mauke, who discovered her sister's body, said she did not recognize the person on the video, records show.

Mauke, a senior at Sabis International Charter School, planned to attend American International College in Springfield on a scholarship she won in the school's Model Congress competition. Lacrosse is a Sabis graduate, police said.

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Stephanie Daugherty earns too much from her part-time job at a doctor's office to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to comfortably afford one of the health plans for sale through the federally-run insurance exchange that Texas and many states use. So the 26-year-old nursing student and mother paid a $180 tax penalty -- 1 percent...

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Stephanie Daugherty earns too much from her part-time job at a doctor's office to qualify for Medicaid, but not enough to comfortably afford one of the health plans for sale through the federally-run insurance exchange that Texas and many states use.

So the 26-year-old nursing student and mother paid a $180 tax penalty -- 1 percent of her annual income -- to spend another year uninsured.

"I just figured it was cheaper than signing up for health insurance," said Daugherty, whose 4-year-old son is covered by Medicaid and who limits doctor visits to an annual exam at a Planned Parenthood clinic.

With Sunday's deadline to enroll through the exchange looming, Daugherty met with an exchange adviser, or navigator, at her Fort Worth community college to see if she might qualify for federal subsidies. She doesn't, but she also learned she may not have had to pay the penalty, after all.

Daugherty and millions of other low-income, working adults who fall into a so-called coverage gap -- ineligible for either federal subsidies or Medicaid -- may qualify for an exemption to the penalty. In Texas and nearly two dozen other conservative states that chose not to expand their Medicaid coverage under the federal health care overhaul, nonprofit groups and volunteer tax advisers are trying to help people avoid the penalty for not having insurance.

"If the people who can't afford the federal marketplace pay the penalty, that's like being hit twice," said Mimi Garcia, Texas director of Enroll America. Garcia said she advises navigators to make sure that people who can't even afford the marketplace's cheapest plans file for an exemption on their tax returns this year.

Texas has the nation's highest uninsured rate and more residents who fall into the coverage gap than any other state. About a million uninsured low-income working adults in Texas will be exempt from paying the penalty, according to U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Regional Director Marjorie Petty.

Nationally, about 4 million people fall into the coverage gap, according to the Kaiser Foundation.

The hole has become so noticeable that the Internal Revenue Service on Monday issued a form for taxpayers in the 22 states that didn't expand Medicaid to claim an exemption if their household income is equal to or less than 138 percent of the federal poverty level, or about $16,104 for an individual or $32,913 for a four-person household. Undocumented immigrants, prisoners and members of Indian tribes are also exempt.

To make a case for exemption, taxpayers must first apply for coverage through the insurance exchange. Those denied are directed to Medicaid, and if they do not qualify, they must file the tax form.

The Affordable Care Act "was written assuming states were going to expand Medicaid. Now we have a situation where we have some states that did not expand it and their residents are left in this gap," said Cheryl Parcham, the private insurance director of Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Families USA.

The Supreme Court ruled in 2012 that Congress cannot force states to expand their Medicaid programs.

Jill Hanken, the director of HealthCare.gov enrollment at the Virginia Poverty Law Center, said groups like hers are communicating with volunteer tax preparers in the state to help get the word out that people who fall into the gap may be exempt from the penalty.

"It's a real problem in all the non-expansion states, so we're trying to provide the best information we can," she said.

The penalty will rise to either 2 percent of income or $325, whichever is higher, for individuals this year, and 2.5 percent or $695 in 2016.

The Treasury estimates that between 10 and 20 percent of taxpayers nationwide will file for an exemption from the penalty on their 2014 tax returns.

The exemptions will stay in place as the rollout of the health care law continues, Petty said.

"People going online to try to do this, they're running blind," said Brendan Riley, a navigator in Raleigh, N.C.

Opponents of the health care law are taking a case to the Supreme Court next month that challenges the validity of the law's subsidies in states that have not set up their own insurance markets, which is most of them.

If the court agrees with the plaintiffs, at least 6.5 million people will lose subsidies for their premiums and other costs. Most would drop coverage.

Milford police said they responded to the Holiday Inn Express on Saturday morning. State police said they are assisting.

MILFORD, Mass. -- Police say two men shot each other in the parking lot of a hotel in Milford.

Police said the men were seriously injured in the incident at about 10 a.m. Saturday at the Holiday Inn Express.

One man was found in the parking lot and other in the hotel lobby. Police said they recovered two guns from the scene.

No further details were released.

Milford is about 40 miles southwest of Boston.

What investigators characterized as a "gun battle" erupted about 10 a.m. at the site, police said.

MILFORD - State and local police are investigating a double shooting at a Holiday Inn in Milford, according to media reports.

What investigators characterized as a "gun battle" erupted about 10 a.m. at the site, police said. Few details were available other than two men were seriously injured, various news sites out of Boston reported. The gunfight broke out in the back parking lot of the hotel, about 40 miles southwest of Boston.

More details will be provided as they become available.